Uhuru to commission Othaya hospital this year
A photo of Othaya Level Four Hospital on February 8, 2016. Construction is expected to end this year. PHOTO | JOSEPH KANYI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Works have stalled since 2013 over claims of misappropriation of funds and inflation of payments to contractors.
- The project was initiated by former President Mwai Kibaki in 2011 when he was Othaya MP at a cost of Sh500 million.
Construction of the Sh1 billion Othaya Level Four Hospital will be completed in April, State House spokesperson Manoah Esipisu has said.
President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to commission the hospital in May.
Works have stalled since 2013 over claims of misappropriation of funds and inflation of payments to contractors.
Mr Esipisu said the government plans to organise a medical camp to mark its opening.
The project was initiated by former President Mwai Kibaki in 2011 when he was Othaya MP at a cost of Sh500 million.
In 2014, the then Health Cabinet secretary James Macharia, during an assessment visit, said the government had injected an extra Sh272 million to facilitate its completion.
President Kenyatta, during his tour of central Kenya in December last year, said an extra Sh300 million has been set aside.
He also directed Housing and Urban Development, and Health principal secretaries to brief him on the progress every two weeks.
"Construction of this hospital has dragged for too long. We do not want any more excuses. If this project is not completed in May, you will go home," he warned the officials.
Duncan Kagwa, Othaya hospital medical superintendent, said the construction is in advanced stages.
"The contactors are on sight. The first and the second floors are already complete," Dr Kagwa said.
The national government is in charge of the construction but will transfer management rights to the county's administration when it is completed.
